How to say "giving someone the benefit of the doubt" in Chinese?

Question

This expression connotes that one is willing to not insist on accusing someone of a mistake despite most evidence pointing to that someone as being responsible. As in a legal proceeding where the jury feel there is a reasonable doubt the defendant transgressed the law
Or.
More colloquially, when not understanding why someone took a certain action or made a decision that impacted others negatively, this expression means one doesn't impute bad motive on the someone.
For example, someone says something very insensitive to you that hurts you, it might be a delicate situation or something very personal. If you give them the benefit of the doubt you don't feel they had bad motive but were trying to help or encourage.

How can I express this in Chinese?

Answer 1

1. I think "寧縱勿枉" best fits the description.
   It literally means not enforcing justice ("縱" as in "縱容") for fear of accusing someone wrongly ("枉" as in "冤枉"). The opposite phrase is "寧枉勿縱". Note that the sayer does not necessarily forgive the suspect here.

   • 沒有實質證據證明銀包是小明偷的，寧縱勿枉，此事就算了吧。 (There's no direct evidence proving Ming stole the wallet, giving him the benefit of doubt, let's be done with this.)

2. I think "無心之失" is applicable for the second description.
   It means one is not intended for the mistake made.

   • 雖然他這樣做是不對，但我相信只是 無心之失，你不要責怪他吧。 (It's not right for him to have done that, but I beleive he doesn't mean it, don't blame him, okay?)

EDIT: added examples, sorry that the English translation may not be the best.
The OP also updated the question so I think the answer here is more appropriate.

Answer 2

Are you sure they can be expressed with the same phrases?

1. I think 既往不咎 is appropriate here. It means: Since your mistake is already committed, I will just forgive you and let it go.
2. 不知者无罪. Another possible sentence goes like: 虽然我不清楚你为何这么做，但是我相信你的本意不是如此（如此 here means 伤害别人）。

Answer 3

Giving someone "benefit of the doubt" suggests uncertainty as to the motive or intention.

If a kid knocks over an ugly vase, and the kid claims it was by accident, you could give the kid the benefit of the doubt, and accept the apology.

So what does it mean to give someone the benefit of the doubt? According to the Cambridge dictionary:

to ​believe something good about someone, ​rather than something ​bad, when you have the ​possibility of doing either

Say you're 35 and single, and at every family gathering you get recurring questions on your plans to get married. As tempting as it is to assume everyone is out to ruin your day and the old fogeys are showing their age by insinuating outdated social values, another way to interpret the situation is to give all of them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they asked because they care about you. Or it's just an easy conversation starter. They don't mean you any harm and didn't mean to hurt you.

In this situation, I would say colloquially: 她們不是故意的，別想太多, or, they didn't mean it that way, don't overthink it. Neither "寧縱勿枉" nor "無心之失" is appropriate here. The former sounds stiff and out of place as it has a connotation of legal speak. As for the latter, the focus is on "之失". You've already made up your mind that the person is at fault, just that it was a fault committed unintentionally.

Depending on the scenario in which you want to say "give benefit of the doubt" in Chinese, why not consider 疑中留情? I first came across this term via this forum. The examples provided in this other forum includes letting a student retake his final exam, as he claims that a family emergency resulted in him having to miss the exam at its originally scheduled time.

In English, to give someone the benefit of the doubt is to believe in their [good] intentions. The emphasis is on the good intention, not the perceived slight, and not the presumably offensive action. In my experience growing up in my Chinese household, the emphasis was always on the outcome, the action. Intention didn't matter. If I were to assume most traditional Chinese household was like this, then yes, giving the benefit of the doubt is a foreign concept. It mattered most what was done, the action.

Answer 4

The accepted answer "寧縱勿枉" is the correct interpretation

I just want to add one point.

There's a legal term “Benefit of the doubt must go to accused" -- ”「疑點利益歸於被告」"

疑點利益歸於被告」其實基於香港行的法制: 「寧縱勿枉」; 大陸行的法制則是「寧枉勿縱」(枉係冤枉; 縱係縱容)

Therefore , we can translate "Benefit of the doubt" as "疑點利益" in Chinese . And "giving someone the benefit of the doubt” Can be translated as "把疑點利益歸予某人"

Example:

在沒有證據的情況下，我們衹能把疑點利益都歸予他 (In the absence of evidence, we can only give him the benefit of the doubt.)

在沒有證據的情況下，我們衹能寧縱勿枉 (In the absence of evidence, we must rather wrongly acquit than wrongly convict)

Answer 5

There is no Chinese translation for "benefit of doubt." Few Chinese people realize this. Doubt is an alien concept. There is no Chinese word for "doubt."

An accurate translation should reveal the relation between the lack of evidence and the suspension of judgement. This relation is the essence of the word "doubt."